Saturday, December 23, 2017

Reconciliation of families

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and families will be gathering some to go to Church, for dinners, and some will open presents. But there will also be those missing family members, not just those separated by war or work, but those separated by problems, those who are in some way astanged, isolated.

On this last full day of Advent, The Prophet Elijah speaks of the sending of a Messenger. And the purpose of his message is:

To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.

The original messenger was of course St. John the Baptist, who came preaching a message to reconcile us all to God, but also, as Elijah points out, to reconcile us to one another, to reconcile families.

Now we are called to be those messengers. No, I am not suggesting that one phone call can magically heal years of separation. But I am suggesting that as Christians we have a duty to at least take a first step. Whether it’s text, call or email, there is still time to in some way reach out to those who find themselves on the periphery of the gatherings of families and friends. It may be a bit awkward, but that’s ok too.

At our baptism we are all baptized into Christ (priest, prophet, and king) today our hearts are turned to Elijah and his message of reconciliation.